AUSTRALIA
The West Australian
By Genevieve Gannon, AAP
Updated April 4, 2013
Children of devout religious families are an attractive target for pedophile priests because they are less likely to report abuse, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
Exposing an abusive religious leader puts such a child at risk of isolation from their community, their peers and their family, experts said.
Even if children do muster the courage to tell their mother or father that a priest has abused them, there is a chance they won’t be believed.
This hsd happened in the past, Professor Caroline Taylor told the Victorian inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations.
Pedophile priests know this and they exploit their position of power in the community to get away with their crimes, she said.
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